Women’s News: Election aftermath

Women across the country are grappling with a range of emotions and reactions after Donald Trump’s election to a second presidential term. For many, the outcome has sparked reflection, activism, and a renewed focus on the future of women’s rights. Since last Tuesday:

• Young, liberal American women are discovering and embracing South Korea’s 4B feminist movement, in which women refuse to marry, have children, date, or have sex with men.

• For Black women, Kamala Harris's defeat underscored the persistent barriers they face in politics, careers, and broader society.

  • One woman described how the result was “especially hard for every single overqualified woman of color who has ever been passed over for a role she deserved only to see it filled by the least qualified white dude imaginable.”

• Sales of dystopian novels like The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 spiked, reflecting increased fears of women’s oppression and fascism under a second Trump presidency.

• Women are stockpiling abortion medication in anticipation of decreased access under Trump. Reproductive health organizations reported major surges in demand for abortion medication and long-term birth control after the election.

• Plus: How women feel about another Trump term and post-election reactions of powerful women.

👉️ The percentage of unmarried women in China is rising due to generational trauma from the one-child policy, which imposed pregnancy restrictions and favored sons over daughters. Now, many Chinese women who were neglected or discarded in childhood are choosing to forgo marriage and motherhood altogether.

👉️ Argentine president Javier Milei, who has called feminism a “ridiculous” fight, banned gender-inclusive language in government documents and cut nearly two-thirds of funding for sexual and reproductive health. 

👉️ Madeleine Riffaud, a key member of the French Resistance during World War II, passed away at age 100.

👉️ Gender bias in college course evaluations—or the tendency for students to rate women professors lower than men— is not only real but particularly stubborn. A new study tested interventions like educating students and adjusting evaluation timing, yet neither narrowed the gap for women faculty.

👉️ Harriet Tubman was posthumously granted the rank of general in the Maryland Army National Guard on Veteran’s Day, over 150 years after she became the first woman to lead a U.S. military wartime operation.

👉️ Boeing reached an agreement with its striking workers, thanks in large part to acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. It was the fifth successful union negotiation she’s led in just two years on the job.

👉️ Paramount chair Shari Redstone will leave the company’s board after the completion of its merger with Skydance Media in 2025, marking the end of her family’s longstanding ownership of Paramount, CBS, and Viacom. 

👉️ Goldman Sachs announced its 2024 partner class, which includes 26 women—the most ever. They make up 27% of the firm’s 95 newly minted partners. 

👉️ Women influencers are dominating headlines:

• Finance “girlies” are taking over TikTok, and Vivian Tu is leading the charge. The former Wall Street trader, now on social media as “Your Rich BFF,” has built a $7 million brand explaining economic and personal finance concepts to her 2.6 million followers. 

• Sara Samaniego is Latin America’s first “recycling influencer.” Through her social media persona Marce the Recycler, she educates hundreds of thousands of followers about how to dispose of waste properly.

• Bonus: An 18-year-old Instagram influencer spoke to The New York Times about her experience as a child social media star, the dangers she’s faced, and how she’s navigated the ever-present male gaze.

👉️ OpenAI hired Caitlin Kalinowski, formerly Meta's hardware lead, to head up its efforts to bring “AI into the physical world” through robotics and consumer hardware.

👉️ Beyond the societal and professional implications of changing their last names after marriage, women face an additional hurdle: artificial intelligence. Algorithms in systems like job applications often fail to link their new identities with their maiden names, leaving important connections overlooked.

👉️ A record-setting 13 women will serve as U.S. governors next year. Kelly Ayotte won the seat in New Hampshire, joining the ranks of Kathy Hochul, Laura Kelly, Maura Healey, and others who lead their states’ executive branches. 

👉️ In his first major decision as president-elect, Donald Trump named campaign leader Susie Wiles as his White House Chief of Staff. She will be the first woman ever to hold the position. 

• He also picked Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as U.N. Ambassador and Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, making women 25% of his key appointments so far. 

👉️ On Saturday, hundreds of women gathered in D.C. for a last-minute Women’s March protesting Project 2025 policy proposals, which include significant restrictions on women’s reproductive health. 

👉️ London Breed, San Francisco’s first Black female mayor, lost her re-election bid to Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.

👉️ Whoopi Goldberg is launching the All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), a global television network attempting to “rectify the imbalance in sport representation.” AWSN will broadcast both live and delayed women’s athletic events across a wide variety of sports.

👉️ Coco Gauff won the Women’s Tennis Association Finals, which took place in Saudi Arabia to mixed reactions from the sports community. 

• Despite the event’s “girl-power” messaging, some observers called out the country’s stilted progress on women’s rights. After her win, Gauff said she hopes to inspire a new generation of Saudi girls.

👉️ Australian breakdancer Ray Gunn announced her retirement from the sport after the backlash from her Paris Olympics performance. 

👉️ The National Women’s Soccer League semifinals are this weekend, with Washington facing Gotham and Kansas City playing against Orlando.

👉️ Beyoncé scored 11 Grammy nominations, making her the most-nominated artist in history. Other women also dominated, with Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish all getting nods in top categories.

👉️ Actress Saoirse Ronan went viral for her response to Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne’s jokes on The Graham Norton Show about using phones for self-defense, reminding them poignantly, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.” 

👉️ Remember Limited Too? The brand that marketed brightly colored, glittery clothes to preteen girls is back—and this time it’s for adult women.

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